Yesterday was Chris’s Dad’s 60th birthday and today is my Grandma’s 82nd. So “Gratulerer med dagen” and “Happy birthday” respectively! Yesterday was a marathon effort, but apart from the crappy weather, all went off without a hitch.

After several weeks of sneaky planning, Chris and his brother and sister managed to get David to believe everyone would be busy on his birthday and that he would just be coming into town for brunch with Maiken. Chris told him he’d be away for work for the weekend, but that he’d try to catch up with him in the coming week. Sebastian and Merete had been out of town for a few days and had been a little sketchy on the details of exactly when they were coming home.

Chris picked up Sebastian from the train station at about 11.45 while I rushed around in the kitchen like a mad thing preparing the food. Maiken told David she wanted to drop in to the deli on our street corner when they got into town, and there he got his first surprise; Sebastian popped in to meet him! I think what happened next was that David made a comment about how they were near enough to drop in and see Chris, so it was a pity he wasn’t home, so then Maiken suggested they pop in anyway to say hi to me. Surprise number two! Chris was hiding behind the door!

Then when he got inside, surprise number three! A table jam packed with food! A surprise birthday brunch! The following tasty dishes:

• Bacon and potato salad
• Cheesy scrambled eggs with basil
• A plate with feta, sundried tomatoes, brie, parmesan and tapini crackers
• Asparagus wrapped in fresh parmesan and parma ham
• McLaren Vale Olive Farm olives
• “Homemade” tzatziki from our local continental deli
• Olive bread (fresh from the bakery that morning)
• A plate of smoked salmon, parma ham and sliced cucumber
• Marinated roasted red peppers
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Tomato and mozzerella salad
• Season chicken wings
• Orange and strawberry juice
• D’Arenburg Peppermint Paddock sparkling red (yes, Chris finally cracked his last bottle)

Not bad for a couple of hours work eh? It really is the best way to serve a large group of people. We just sat and gorged for about two hours. Then just when I was starting to get worried that we wouldn’t have enough room in the fridge for all the leftovers, surprise number four; Merete arrived from her trip to Bergen and helped us polish off the last of the food.

After that we gave David his present; a funky little portable Weber BBQ. They have a summer house (you might recall the photos from late last summer) so it will be perfect for when they take boat trips over to the little beach across the water. Not to mention camping and picnicking etc.

Finally, just when David thought it was all winding down, we sprung surprise number 5; BOWLING! I had never bowled in my life, and couldn’t help thinking of the Simpsons where Homer gives Marge a bowling ball for her birthday. I didn’t do too badly for a first time, and even managed a spare at one point, but I still came in dead last. Luckily my humiliation was eclipsed somewhat by Chris getting a little enthusiastic on about his 7th round and face-planting the parquetry. I’m actually still laughing while writing this. Tee hee…

So all in all it was a great success and everyone had a great day.